I am an ex smoker of a 20 + a day this is my 5th day as a non smoker. I am using Champex, against medical advice as I suffer from Bi Polar disorder, I begged my health team to prescribe it for me as I have had so many failed attempts on NRT.

So far I have had no side effects on Champex but I believe is is working well. I was so addicted I had to have a ciggi within 3 mins of waking up. The carbon monoxide in my blood was 51 % when I had it tested.

Why did I decided to give up? The week before Christmas at aged 44 I had a stroke ( very, very young for one of those) - never feel you are OK, because I did, I walk at least 4 miles a day, I can run up and down the stairs I felt fit, but because of smoking I had a very early stroke.........

Now I am on Day 5 of not smoking and it is difficult, smoking has been my pal since I was 11, I used to like smoking and it is so hard to keep up not smoking, now I feel as if I am rambling here!

In a way I am glad it has snowed, because when things got really bad in the craving department, I went out and shovelled snow, I practice breathing deeply.

It is so hard to stay away from circumstances where I would have smoked, as I smoked all day and everywhere! - I know I have not got my head round quitting, but I am still trying - to be honest I am not sure how to get my head round quitting for my health as in the past with dark depressive moments due to Bi Polar I don't care about my health and well being!.

I seem to sound very depressed! So, out I go to take my Hawk flying in the hope that it will cheer both me and him up!

19 Replies

A hawk?? Wow. can we have a piccie please, that sounds amazing.Oops, sorry, I'm gushing about your bird.

Well done on your quit. You are probably in the worst bit at the moment - I remember the first couple of weeks really well, and the thing that keeps me quit is not wanting to ever go back there. The great thing is that you will soon be past the bad bit and feeling really good about yourself. Take each step one at a time, one cig not smoked at a time if necessary - little baby steps will get you there.

There is loads of support and new friends to be found here. This forum has been the mainstay of my quit, the one thing that made the big difference. Champix helps, but this is the real deal.

Hi and welcome to the forum. I hope the medical people are keeping an eye on you and I hope you have some one close at home to spot any problems that might crop up.

Well done on day 5, all the nicotine leaves your system after 3 days so now you are nicotine free and it is a matter of dealing with the head part of the quit. You will see that lots of people around here have links just below their signitures try reading as much as you can of these as it will really help.

Having a stroke at 44 must have been v frightening and is a fantastic reason for stopping, so stay strong, choose not to smoke today and please keep posting often to let us know how you are getting on.

Can you tell us more about your Hawk, could you maybe post some pics would love to see them.

Below is my standard welcome and advice post which I try and give all new members

Welcome to the forum and well done on the decision to quit possibly one of the most important you will ever make and you will be losing nothing but you will regain control of your life and that has to be good

You will find all the help and support you need on here as we all help each other just like a family we are here for you every step of the way cheering the good days and sympathising with the bad but the good far outweigh the bad

Read the posts on here you will find a lot of tips and advice and in the signatures of a lot you will find links to other sites just click on them Here are 2 I find very good to start you off whyquit.com and woofmang.com Read, read and then read some more as the more you read and learn about why you smoked and about your addiction the easier your quit will be

This link is good for the psychological part of quittinghttp://whyquit.com/whyquit/A_Symptoms.html

Post often to let us know how you're doing, to rant, rave have a moan whatever you like pretty much anything goes on here

I stopped for health reasons as well and yes it does feel a little different, not having the want to stop like you think everyone else has. I read as much as possible about the addiction and got my head around the fact that smoking is not a pleasure, the people here showed me websites to help, they are in my signature, and the not wanting to smoke happened to me too. When cigarettes came into my mind, even now, I remind myself what my health would be like if I did it again and there is no contest. At first I felt different but now my reasons to stay stopped are huge, so don't ever want to do it again. You can do this too.

Welcome and well done on getting to day 5. I stopped with Champix, but this site has kept me off the ciggies. The others have given you great advice - read as much as you can about the addiction, smoking and quitting - it's all about "knowing your enemy".

Like you - I had no obvious health issues, walk up and down stairs, and take long (well, 5 mile plus) walks with the OH. Since quitting I've put on weight, had a bad bought of flu and seem to have a never-ending cough. But I can't tell you how proud I feel saying "I don't smoke", and walking past the ciggy keiosk in Asda's without even glancing at it - I used to be so embarrassed queuing up for my 20 B&H.

WOW, George is stunning, it must be fantastic being out there watching him fly, catch, and do the things George does. He's a fantastic, strong, independant bird, any similarities? Take great strength in his characteristics, be determined and you will get there. Good luck.

going to move to day six now! woke up this morning to more snow! Bum! that means I can't take George into the fields to fly, but instead I took the shovel out and started shovelling snow. The want for cigarette seems a bit worse today and I am getting hot sweats!

going to move to day six now! woke up this morning to more snow! Bum! that means I can't take George into the fields to fly, but instead I took the shovel out and started shovelling snow. The want for cigarette seems a bit worse today and I am getting hot sweats!

Ciggies...stuff them. Stay the course and read along to help yourself out. We can't do anything other than support you. And you'll get loads of support here. Importantly read and educate yourself as to what is happening as you go through these early days. There is literally loads of information that can be gleaned from previous posts....so lose yourself in reading the forum just now...without ignoring George obviously Get into new habits...including, if you like, looking at the various hyperlinks in members' sigs. Fantastic information included in these...well we wouldn't have them if they were useless. It has generally been established that those that seek to educate and learn more about quitting tend to have a successful quit...and that the difficulties we face going through the process are lessened because of the better understanding. Knowledge is power.

Hey, George is amazing...is he a Harris Hawk? Do/did you have any other birds of prey? Obviously this is a unique experience you are bringing to the forum and as a diversion exercise could you maybe write up some information. Best to post that in General.

Day 7 and I need to keep busy. Its raining and miserable, its making me feel miserable.

Today I think I can see light at the end of the tunnel, I could actually do this, I could stay stopped (if you know what I mean!).

It seems that even after 33 years ish of smoking, I don't feel the need to do something with my hands instead of smoking, I think it was pure heavy addiction, with the Champix taking the edge off it, it seems to be OK to quit.